neoprene

English

Etymology

US, 1930s; genericized trademark for DuPont brand of polychloroprene. neo- (“new”) +‎ isoprene (dropping the iso-), the latter from terpene. Originally called duprene (blend of DuPont and isoprene); the “new” is because neoprene was the first mass-produced general-purpose synthetic rubber.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈniɵpɹin/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

neoprene (countable and uncountable, plural neoprenes)

1. A synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, commonly used in wetsuits, laptop sleeves, orthopedic braces, electrical insulation, liquid and sheet-applied elastomeric membranes and flashings, car fan belts, etc.

   Synonym: polychloroprene

   Hypernym: rubber (broad sense)

   Coordinate terms: natural rubber; rubber

Derived terms

• bioprene

Translations

synthetic rubber, a polymer of chloroprene, used in various consumer products

• Arabic: نيوبرين m
• Catalan: neoprè m
• Czech: neopren m
• Esperanto: neopreno
• Finnish: neopreeni (fi)
• French: néoprène (fr) m
• German: Neopren (de) n
• Icelandic: neópren n
• Ido: neopreno (io)
• Irish: neoipréin f
• Italian: neoprene (it) m
• Japanese: ネオプレン (neopuren)
• Portuguese: neoprene m, neopreno m
• Russian: неопре́н (ru) m (neoprén)
• Slovak: neoprén m
• Spanish: neopreno (es) m
• Turkish: neopren

Italian

Etymology

From neo- +‎ (cloro)prene.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌnɛ.oˈprɛ.ne/
• Rhymes: -ɛne
• Hyphenation: ne‧o‧prè‧ne

Noun

neoprene m (plural neopreni)

1. neoprene

Further reading

• neoprene in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
• neoprene in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
• neoprene in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
• neoprene in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
• neoprène in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• “neoprène”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• neopreno

Etymology

From French néoprène or English neoprene. By surface analysis, neo- +‎ (cloro)preno.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌnɛ.oˈpɾẽ.ni/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌnɛ.ɔˈpɾɛ.nɨ/

Noun

neoprene m (usually uncountable, plural neoprenes)

1. neoprene (a synthetic rubber)

Further reading

• “neoprene”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “neoprene”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2026
• “neoprene”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “neoprene”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “neoprene”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026